Stop Saying that the Young Need to Save the Planet: Calling on the Wise to Rise

The young will indeed need to play a colossal part in saving the planet and healing the mess that has been created by past generations, as well as the current one. There are many powerful young voices speaking up. Their futures are at stake. One of my greatest reasons for starting the Conscious Media Movement is my deep concern for our next generation and where they are heading in the future with this planet. I can't sit idle.

What frustrates me is that an enormously valuable and necessary resource is being disregarded at this critical time. For a positive planetary shift of healing to happen, before it’s too late, we need to stop throwing away the people who could be of the greatest help, our wise elders. They bring wisdom gained from having lived many decades through countless experiences and life lessons. Of course, not every old person has learned their life lessons, and there are young people who incarnate with a wise old soul, so the keyword we are looking for here is “wise”.

Because we live in a culture that reveres youth and fears aging, we blindly discard too many of the people who have the most to bring to the table, especially in storytelling and film--the wise elders. This unrealistic fear of aging... is why we see so few older people in leading roles in films. Especially women tend to disappear from the screen after 40/45. It's even worse behind the camera.

The power of story is that it reflects life, on top of entertaining us. So, story is a powerful tool that can be used to teach, it can elevate consciousness, fostering compassion, love, and understanding...it can affect people’s behavior and perspectives. Why then is it being left only to those with the least life experience? The problem can be exacerbated when the storylines or marketing images created often make fun of older people, spreading unrealistic stereotypes and contributing to age discrimination.

In Hollywood, the ageism starts way before someone is even considered a senior, especially for women. Older male actors still get exciting roles, but for some reason, the female romantic partner they cast opposite them needs to be half their age in order to be acceptable to watch.

Film/story is such an influential medium, imagine the good we could do with it at this pivotal time in history, where a dramatic shift in consciousness is required for the planet and humanity to survive. A healthy balance and range in age of our storytellers is what is needed. I won’t discount what both groups bring to the table, the young with their clever, fresh, bold perspectives and the wise, older group with their life lessons under their belts, their insights, and collected wisdom. The understanding and insights media can foster can’t happen when great chunks of the population are not being heard due to gender, age, or race.

I founded the Conscious Media Movement precisely because of the tremendous influence that story, film, and the media have. With its global reach, it can literally raise mass consciousness to a higher level. Currently, most of the media is accomplishing the opposite and is both blatantly and subliminally destructive.

In most cultures, it was the wise ones who told the stories that everyone else learned from, so they wouldn't repeat mistakes made by generations before. I’m not worried about the young finding their place and being heard as contributors to film. But wouldn't it be powerful if they had mentors? Wouldn't it be powerful if our filmmakers worked on raising their own consciousness, so they could produce films that benefit society? We are not going to make any real progress until we hear from storytellers of all ages, so we upgrade the type of media that is being produced and absorbed by the population. In almost all wisdom teachings and spiritualities, balanced wholeness is a critical necessity for health, no matter if it is for the health of the earth or for the health of an individual, and that is why all citizens need to be represented.

Even with our best efforts, one of the biggest problems we are facing is who is in charge in the world right now. The corporations and the people at the top behind them, and many of the political leaders, find it to their benefit that we stay dumbed-down, so we remain unaware of what they are doing to our lives and our environment. This very problem is what kept the original raised voices from making enough breakthroughs and having enough impact to start healing the planet way back when, and this will also be the biggest challenge for those of us speaking up now, both young and old. Because most of those in the highest positions of control on this planet are of the lowest in consciousness, and they simply don’t care what’s going to happen to us, to the planet, and the next generation. Most, but not all, of the people at the top calling the shots are spiritually void, so of course, the world is in trouble. Thousands of years of selfish, short-sighted choices are giving us what we are dealing with today. We need to find those that aren’t, and band together for change.

Anne Baring and Scilla Elworthy said it best in their potent little book, Soul Power, “First, we understand that the crisis of our times is not only an ecological, political, and financial crisis but a spiritual one. The answers that we seek will not come from the limited consciousness that now rules the world.” We keep looking for the physical solutions, and none of those will work if we don’t realize that we are all one, belonging to the greater whole. We need to enlist the help of the wise elders, with the keyword being "wise," and the new perspective of the young people who have genuinely raised their awareness. These are the people whom we could use in leadership and as the storytellers of our time. At this moment, doors that need to be opened for this older, wise group are all but shut. The opportunities need to be given for them to help, and it needs to happen now. We keep electing leaders who are like the ones who came before, or a change for the worse. We keep watching stories that numb or harm our psyche.

There’s a well-used saying, “I wish I knew then what I know now”. Because no matter who we are and how smart, there is always something more to learn as we go through life. Life is full of joys, love, challenges, heartbreak, victories, and losses. If you are open and/or have wise role models, the path can become easier. The younger one starts on the path to awareness and higher consciousness, the better.

This need for guidance in some areas was highlighted with the coronavirus outbreak. Near the beginning, when it became apparent that the outbreak was escalating in pandemic proportions, we were told to stay home to flatten the curve, which would spare countless lives. There were articles in Italian newspapers begging the young to respect the shelter-in-place order for the sake of their parents and grandparents and others who were seen as the most vulnerable and most likely to die. So, are these young people who were still out having a good time bad? No... they are young! We all remember going through the period of trying to establish our individuality, and during that time, having more of a self-focus. I don’t believe that they don’t care. Nothing remotely like this has happened in their lifetime, or ours, for that matter. So we are all doing the best we can with what we know at this moment.

For the young, it is hard to believe/grasp the full gravity and consequences of their actions. They needed guidance. The sun was out, and the beach looked good. How can anything really be wrong? There were ignorant adults out there, too. If people were physically shown the chain of their actions and the chain of contacts and possible horrible consequences they may have caused, I sense they’d feel differently. If they could be shown like Ebenezer Scrooge was by the ghost of the past, the cost their choices had, they’d feel remorse. If they saw that their activities created a domino effect that directly led to the death of someone else, and the numbers show that many people have done just that, they would be devastated. If they were shown that person’s face and had to look in their eyes, they’d understand. Here’s a wonderful article written by a student that stood out as one to read: Appeal to Youth

A conscious person would understand from the get-go and not risk someone else’s life. Though some young people did have a stronger sense of responsibility, like the student who wrote the above article, very little replaces life experience. Which is why we need to get more stories from the people who have had the life experiences and/or raised their awareness at any age. This awakened cinema could be woven into genres, whether comedy, drama, doc, fantasy, children’s, action...all genres. The exciting part is maybe we would get some new stories, instead of the same old stories rehashed with different actors, the way it is now.

We don’t know how this pandemic will play out and what we will find out about the virus, our response to it, and what changes will have taken place in the world once the dust settles. I just know that life won’t remain the same. And through many teachings, I’ve become aware that despite the tremendous loss and heartbreak...often during the times of turmoil and the greatest challenges, the greatest awakenings happen. It may get worse before it gets better. But this crisis can become a catalyst for a positive shift in our way of thinking and being, in how we treat our planet and each other. It’s a good time to reflect on where we have been and where we would like to go.

Please check out the Coming Soon Page for videos of spiritual teachings for filmmakers and storytellers, and you can also sign up for CMM updates. I’m planning to post my introductory video on April 23rd at 11:00, and will post a new one every Thursday at 11:00 after that.